Leipzig still need a first away point against a Schalke side with four league goals
Schalke have gone five matches without a win and went out of the cup at Dynamo Dresden on Wednesday. Robin Gosens and Soufiane El-Faouzi, both hurt at Köln, will not play, and Kenan Karaman and Dejan Ljubicic are doubts.
Four goals in seven league games is all Schalke have scored since coming up, and only one has come in the five matches since they won 3-1 at Union Berlin on 11 September. They do not leak many either: seven conceded in seven. The latest blank was the 2-0 defeat at Dynamo Dresden on Wednesday that put them out of the cup.
Leipzig should take their first away points of the league season, though not by much, in a match of two goals or fewer in which Schalke do not score.
Leipzig are two different sides depending on the ground. At home they have won all four league games without conceding. Away they have lost all three, 3-1 at Werder Bremen, 2-0 at Leverkusen and 6-1 at Bayern. Five straight away defeats in all competitions ended at Rot-Weiss Essen on Tuesday, where they came from behind with ten men to win 2-1 in the cup, and Christoph Baumgartner, back after four and a half months out, scored both goals from the bench.
Miron Muslic loses Robin Gosens and Soufiane El-Faouzi, both injured at Köln. He wants back what defined his side over the last 16 months: work without the ball and quick transitions.
History is on Leipzig's side. They have won the last five meetings, including 6-1 in Gelsenkirchen in January 2023, and the most recent ended 4-2 that May.
